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Beef Cow Longevity Series Set for Early 2014

AMES, Iowa — Many factors affect beef herd profitability, but one specific factor, keeping young cows in the herd, is a huge challenge for cattle producers. Producers are searching for ways to keep young females in the cow herd longer for several reasons. Fifteen percent of all culled cows leave the heard before five years of age and an additional 33 percent are culled because they do not become pregnant, according the 2007-08 National Animal Health Monitoring System. Based on current production prices, a female must produce five calves for the cost of the replacement female to be recouped.

The Iowa Beef Center in partnership with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association is offering the series “Heifer Development 2: Maintaining Your Investment” to specifically focus on management practices to keep young cows in the herd to improve longterm profitability. This series is a follow-up to the 2012 series on yearling heifers, “Heifer Development: Rebuilding our Future.”

The goal of the upcoming series is to pick up where the initial series ended and cover the topics of nutrition, health, calving and reproductive management of bred heifers through their second breeding season.

Dates and locations for the “Heifer Development 2: Maintaining Your Investment” series are

Jan.16, Maquoketa

Jan. 21, Nashua

Jan. 21, Postville

Jan. 23, Anita

Jan. 28, Spencer

Jan. 29, Holstein

Feb. 4, Humboldt

Feb. 5, Mount Pleasant

Feb. 5, Albia

Feb. 6, Winterset

Feb. 6, Osceola

Feb. 19, Ames

Registration for any location is $20 if preregistered by phone or email two days prior to the specific event, and guarantees a meal. Registration onsite at any of the locations is $25 per person with no guarantee of meal. For more information, contact your Iowa State University Extension and Outreach beef program specialist or IBC at www.iowabeefcenter.org